A little bit of everything…

Yesterday, we spent the day celebrating my niece’s 3rd birthday.  Corbin loved playing with his cousins and we loved being able to see family.

Happy Birthday, sweet Clara!

Chris, Corbin, and I all had the day off on Friday, so we did some Christmas shopping at the local toy store.  Corbin made him and I necklaces. 

We also spent time outside enjoying the great weather!  We took a walk and fed the ducks.  Corbin loves our neighborhood ducks.

The last few weeks Chris and I have been passing by each other.  Chris went on a work trip to California for 7 days.  We were both home 3 days and then I left for 5 days to go to a conference in Ohio.

I had some great experiences at the conference.  One, I got to eat at a Brazilian restaurant. It was a blast.  They came around with big slabs of all assortments of meat and then cut it for you and you use your personal set of tongs to put it on your plate. 

I also had some amazing ice cream.  Below are scoops of salted caramel, dark chocolate, and pistachio honey.  This was my supper one night and I would not have changed a thing…divine!  Perhaps worth another trip to Ohio

Then on our last night of the conference, they rented out the North Market, which is just a bunch of small eateries and shops.  There were free food tastings and drinks in the market.  It was a fun way to end the week.

I really was there for a conference, not just food, promise!  I won’t bore you with all the sessions and learning I acquired, but it was a beneficial time of learning.

I did get to see children’s author Sharon Draper, Kimberly and James Dean (Pete the Cat authors), and Brian Selznick (who wrote Wonderstruck, one of my favorite books).

I love hearing people’s stories and these authors had some interesting ones to listen to.  Brian (pictured below) was my favorite author to listen to because he created almost a magical, movie-like presentation.  His words were intertwined with music and pictures.  He had amazing timing, was funny, dramatic, serious, and inspiring…he gave me goose bumps.  It was awesome!

So, that’s a little bit of what’s been going on around here! Life is moving along at a rapid pace and we are just trying to hold on and enjoy the ride.